Death of a Turtle
by Archangel11
Summary: First time story. The turtles are hunted for the last time. Will they survive this time? Rated for extreme violence, gore, language, and torture. Uploaded the first part only. Please R and R.


Shredder paced back and forth in his large office impatiently. "Why did I have to hire that blasted bounty hunter?" He glanced up at the clock in his office and sighed. "He was supposed to be here 10 minutes ago." The door suddenly flew open and a lone figure stood in the entrance. Shredder snarled at the figure. "Who are you?" The figure took off its black hat and smiled, his fangs glinting slightly in the neon lights. Shredder took a slight step back. The figure standing before him wasn't a man, but a mutant. He slowly removed his coat and threw it near his hat. He folded his arms across his white-furred chest and gazed intently at Shredder. Shredder looked over the mutant before him. He wasn't a turtle and for that he was grateful. The mutant was a fox. He was completely red save for the creamy white on his chest and arms. His tail swished slowly behind him the white tip visible on the end. His arms were totally red except for three black stripes and he had a strange black hairstyle. His face looked totally like a fox's except for that glint of humanity. His eyes were completely black and seemed to pull Shredder to the brink of a huge abyss. Shredder finally looked over his clothes. He wore a simple pair of jeans, torn near the bottom with no shoes. He wore a simple green shirt, much like a martial artist and a simple black belt with a fox buckle. His only remarkable feature, besides the obvious were the two guns strapped to his thighs. The fox uncrossed his arms and stuck out a hand. "The name's Magus and I believe you wish to acquire my services." Shredder was taken slightly aback. "You're the bounty hunter." Magus nodded, his black hair moving slightly. "By the way, your ninja need to be trained better. I got in here way too easily." Shredder looked over his shoulder and saw six ninja crumpled on the ground. He smiled. "So the stories are true. You really are that good." Magus nodded and moved to sit down. Shredder sat down behind his desk and pushed a folder across it. Magus picked it up and opened it. He flipped through each page and finally tossed it back. "You might want to keep it." "No, I won't need it. My fee is $3 million. As I see there are six mutants you want eliminated. That will increase the amount to $6 million. The money is to be deposited into my Swiss bank account half before and half after I've completed the mission. Now, how would you like them?" Shredder shook his head. "$6 million is a lot of money." "I know, and I also know you can afford it with no problems." Shredder's face darkened. "You know nothing." Magus smiled. "I know these creatures have been hounding you for years. I know you and your organization can't get rid of them. And I know you called the best to get rid of them." Shredder growled slightly. "Alright. $6 million it is." "Very good. Here's the account number. Now.dead or alive? Alive will cost more, about $1 million a head." Shredder smiled and handed the number back after writing it down. Magus stuffed it in his back pocket. "Then kill them all and bring me their heads." Magus stood and smiled. He turned to leave, but Shredder stopped him. "Can I make a request?" Magus cocked his head, but didn't turn around. "Make them suffer." He smiled. "Suffering is what I do best." Magus grabbed his coat and hat and was soon gone.  
  
April sat at her desk typing away at a report that was due before the end of the day. Her supervisor was becoming more of a pain as the days went by and she was beginning to think that taking a job at Altech wasn't the best idea she ever had. She looked over the stack of paperwork again and sighed. It was going to be another long day. A knock at the door roused her from her thoughts. "Yes?" April's assistant stuck her head in.  
"Someone just dropped off a package for you."  
"Who's it from?"  
"I don't know.there's no return address and it was sent by our local messenger service."  
"Alright. Just put it there and I'll get to it later." Her assistant nodded and set the package down on the chair near the door. April watched the door close and sighed again as she went back to her report. A soft scratching broke her concentration. She looked around and didn't see anything. Ignoring it, she went back to work. Suddenly, there it was again. She picked up her phone and dialed to her assistant.  
"Rachel, are you scratching at my door?"  
"What? Of course not. I'm typing up your itinerary for tomorrow."  
"Okay.um, never mind then." She quickly hung up the phone and listened intently. The scratching sound continued. April stood up and walked slowly over to the door and closer to the sound. She put her hand on the door handle before she realized that the scratching was coming from the package. She carefully picked up the package and took it to her desk. She pulled out her letter opener and carefully slit the tape holding the box shut. Her hands shaking, she carefully opened the box. Her face relaxed as she saw a baby box turtle in the bottom of the box. She picked it up and placed it on the stack of papers on her desk.  
"Aw.how cute. I wonder who sent it and why?" April's phone rang and she picked it up while staring at the turtle.  
"Hello, April."  
"Who is this?"  
"The one who sent you the little gift."  
"Okay.who are you?"  
"No one for the time being, but know I'm watching you.and your lovely family. Go to them." The phone fell from April's hand and hit the desk. Her hands were shaking uncontrollably. Once she regained control, she carefully picked back up the phone and put it to her ear. "Go to the police, go to your friends, go to anyone, I don't care. They won't stop me and they won't find me. Enjoy the turtle.I think you should call her Venus." April listened as the dial tone clicked in. April clicked down on the receiver and dialed in her assistant.  
"Rachel, I'm putting in a sick day and going home. I'm suddenly not feeling so well."  
"Alright. I'll cancel your appointments and contact the supervisor. What should I tell him about your report?"  
"I'll get it to him tomorrow."  
"Okay.I hope you feel better, April."  
"Thank you, Rachel. I'm sure I will." April hung up the phone and quickly gathered everything together, including the box turtle and headed out to her car.  
Magus smiled broadly from his dark hideout. He watched intently his computer screen showing a camera shot of April's office. He laughed evilly as she packed everything up to go home. "Yes.that's right April. Run to them, but it won't save you or them." Magus flipped the computer to a different camera, this one showing a rather large man playing with a girl of about 12 years old. "Why hello little Shadow and Casey.soon we will all meet each other and soon I will collect my bounty." Magus stood up and prepared himself for a very fun night.  
  
April finally arrived at home and ran inside. Casey and Shadow were on the living room floor playing when April burst through. She dropped everything and grabbed the phone. She dialed in a number and waited. Casey stood up and looked at April then at Shadow. "Shadow, honey. Why don't you go play in your room for a bit?" Shadow nodded and ran off. Casey walked over to April. "What's wrong, April?" April put her hand up as the person answered. "Thank God it's you, mom. Would you mind taking care of Shadow for a couple of days, maybe a week or so? Hmm? Oh, it's nothing. I just wanted to spend some time alone with Casey, that's all. Thanks, you are a lifesaver. Love you too. Bye, mom." Casey cocked his head as he looked at his wife. "Okay.what's up April and why do you look so frazzled?" "I think I was threatened at work today." Casey's face darkened. "Who's the bastard and where can I find him?" "No.it's nothing like that. I think the guy is trying to get to the turtles." Casey's face showed his shock. "I think you better start at the beginning, babe." April sighed and sat down on the sofa. Casey sat down next to her. "Okay. I got this package at work just a couple of hours ago. It was a box turtle sent with no explanation and no return address. After I had opened it, I got this weird phone call. The guy." April shuddered. "He said he was watching me and my family. He wanted me to go to anyone I wanted to. Casey, he wanted me to call the turtle Venus. I'm scared something is going to happen." Casey hugged April and held her close. "It's going to be alright. They can handle themselves. I'll take Shadow to your parents and make sure everything is fine, then I'm coming back here and we'll take care of this guy." April looked relieved, but unconvinced. "Don't worry. They are highly trained and deadly ninja, plus one shinobi mage, I don't think the army could take them on and win." April nodded and hugged Casey.  
  
Magus crawled into the dark alley, his coat pulled tightly around him. The street was remarkably calm and quiet as he stepped onto it. "That will definitely change." He walked over to a car and tried the handle. It was locked, but that didn't stop him. Using one of his claws, he picked the lock and crawled inside. He quickly hotwired it and was soon off down the road. He cruised slowly down some of the seedy parts of the city and quickly picked up a pair of drunken college girls. They were laughing and having a generally good time in the back seat of the stolen car. Magus grinned and fingered his gun strapped to his hip. Quickly he had pulled under a bridge and stopped the car. Both girls began complaining and whining. Magus climbed out of the car and both girls followed. He smiled and pulled off his hat and coat. The girls stood in total shock. "You-You're not human!" Magus smiled showing all his sharp teeth. "I know.and you're both going to die. Let us begin, shall we?" Magus whipped out both guns and emptied both clips into the chests of both women. He watched gleefully as their lifeless bodies fell to the ground, the blood pooling on the ground. He quickly reloaded and picked up the empty shells and put his coat and hat back on. He reholstered his guns and was preparing to leave when a sudden noise behind him stopped him. "What's going on here, bub?" Magus turned around slowly. Six punks with various weapons stood before him. "You know, murdering on our turf is something we don't handle very well. Unless we're doing it, of course." Magus smiled. "So this means you're going to try and kill me, huh?" The leader took a step forward brandishing a machete. "Oh, there is no try here." He lunged forward to impale Magus, but he sidestepped and grabbed his wrist, twisting it until the machete dropped from his hand. Magus flipped him onto his back and picked up the machete. "I think you should do it better than that, my friend." The leader held his wrist as he crawled away. He looked up at his gang. "What're you fuckers waiting for? Kill the mother fucker!" The five rushed forward. Magus threw the machete at the nearest one and split his skull down the center. Magus smiled at the shocked look on his face, he was definitely having fun, and all the blood and death was starting to go to his head. The second one swung his chain, missing Magus by a hair. Magus reached up and racked his face with his claws, not killing him, but definitely causing excruciating pain. The punk screamed, dropped his chain, and fell to the ground holding his face as blood poured through his fingers. Magus ignored him as the blood loss would likely kill him. The others seemed to hesitate slightly. This gave Magus the chance he needed. He quickly pulled out two knives from his belt and rushed at the nearest two punks. Before they could react, he was behind them holding two bloody knives. The two looked down as their intestines fell onto the ground quickly followed by their lifeless bodies. Magus heard a click of a gun's hammer behind him. "This ends now, fucker." Magus spun around, throwing both knives. They flew through the air and connected with the kid's face, impaling through both eyes. He fell to the ground screaming and trying to get the knives out. Magus walked over to him and pulled out the knives. He screamed again, but it was cut short as he slit the punk's throat. Magus sat back enjoying the carnage and pain he had just inflicted. He opened his eyes as he realized there was still some unfinished business. He walked over, picked up the bloody machete covered with gore, and walked over to the leader still on the ground. Magus stood over him and removed his hat. "I think you failed." The leader sat in shock at the sight of the fox. "You're not human! My God! HELP!" Magus shook his head and reached inside the leader's mouth. He pulled out the tongue and sliced it off with the machete. The kid started to groan as his mouth filled up with blood. "I think you'll be my calling card. Time to die." The punk shook his head and tried to crawl away, blood pouring from his mouth. Magus grabbed the leader's hair and pulled back, exposing his neck. He brought the machete forward and sliced through his throat. He pulled back harder and the head came off. He looked into the lifeless face of the leader and smiled gleefully. "Yes, I think you'll do fine." Magus quickly went to work leaving a calling card and left for home, satisfied and tired.  
  
Leonardo deftly dodged Raphael's flurry of attacks. He sidestepped and tripped Raphael. He growled slightly and flipped back up. Leonardo grabbed one leg and Raph smiled. He flipped around to kick Leo in the head. Leo threw the leg out and Raphael collapsed again. Splinter stood up.  
"Enough. Raphael, show more patience and control. Leonardo, do not become overconfident it may one day overcome you." All five turtles bowed and left the hall. Michelangelo nudged Venus.  
"I was pretty good, wasn't I?" Venus rolled her eyes and kept walking. She had become much more American after her 7 years here. She was nearing the level of Shinobi master and her martial arts wasn't that bad either. All the turtles hit the showers.  
Splinter knelt down in the middle of the hall and began meditating. He felt a slight shift and knew someone was in the lair. He jumped to his feet and scanned the room. A shocked April stood at the doorway. Splinter let out a breath and walked over to her.  
"I'm sorry if I scared you, April." April smiled and shook her head.  
"It's not a problem. I'm used to it by now." Splinter smiled and ushered her into the kitchen. He made them both tea and sat down across from her.  
"To what do we owe the honor of this visit?" April's face darkened slightly.  
"I think we're in danger." Splinter set down his tea.  
"By whom or what?" April shook her head.  
"I don't know. It started a few days ago. I got a strange package at work, then a threatening phone call, and now." She pulled out a letter and set it on the table. The turtles all walked in at that moment.  
"Hey, April!" Michelangelo stopped short when he saw the note. "What's that?" Everyone peered at the note.  
"I got this email yesterday. No return email address and I have no idea how they got my home email." The letter read:  
  
Mrs. O'Neil,  
It's time we all finally met. The gift was simply stage one and you're informing your friends was stage two. Follow my calling card and you'll manage to find me. I look forward to our meeting. Come and get me.  
  
"After he threatened me, I sent Shadow to stay with my parents for a while. Casey is with them too and won't be back until tomorrow." The turtles stood around April in shock. Donatello stepped forward and grabbed the email.  
"I'll find out where this came from. Give me a couple of hours and I'll know where it was sent from." April nodded and sipped her tea. The turtles all sat down around April and began formulating a plan as to how to deal with the situation. Michelangelo flipped on the news and started to watch it. "Hey guys.check this out." They all turned their attention to the television.  
"We now bring you this breaking news report. Here is Jenny Lewis on scene."  
"Thank you, Jerry. I am here underneath the bridge on Riker's Island where police are investigating a brutal series of murders. They have been unwilling to release much information but we are hoping for an official report sometime soon. In fact.yes, here comes the detective now." A man stepped onto camera and cleared his throat. He was fairly well built and looked like he'd seen one too many murders in his time. "Detective, could you give us any information on this grisly scene here?"  
"Yes.we have determined that that are currently 8 bodies accounted for. Several of them are unidentifiable at this time and the coroner is waiting for dental records before identifying the others. At this time, the only thing we know is that this killer or killers has not yet finished and we ask the citizens of New York to take extra precautions and safety measures."  
"And how do you know this, detective?"  
"The person or people involved have evidence to that effect. I can't give out any more information until our investigation is under way. Thank you." The detective walked off-screen and the camera zoomed in on the reporter.  
"As we can see, the police are deep in their investigation. We'll be providing up to date information as it becomes available. Back to you, Jerry."  
  
The turtles and April sat dumbfounded.  
"This city is full of nut jobs." April suddenly gasped and pointed at the TV. The camera had zoomed in on a specific part of the crime scene. The wall seemed to be covered in blood, making some sort of sentence. They all looked carefully at the single phrase scrawled in dried blood: Come and get me. April picked up the letter and reread it. She pointed to the last sentence.  
"It's him. The guy that's been watching me. He's the one who did this." Leonardo took April's hand in his.  
"Don't worry, April. We'll get this guy. If we don't, the police surely will." April nodded and Splinter spoke up.  
"I think it would be best if you went to spend time with your family. It would provide less leverage for this madman and give us some security to know that you are safe and sound." April stood up and headed for the door.  
"I was thinking the same thing. Call me with any information you get. I'll call you when I get to Wisconsin." She quickly headed out of the lair.  
Leonardo sighed as she left. "What kind of man could do this kind of thing and why the interest in April?"  
"I do not know, Leonardo. I only know that we must find and stop him at all costs. Who knows how many more people he will harm." Raphael growled and stood up, twirling his sai.  
"So when do we find this fucker?" Leonardo stood face-to-face with his brother.  
"Tonight. We visit the crime scene and see if there are any clues left over."  
  
The night was deathly silent as the turtles arrived on scene. Donatello stayed behind to continue his search on the mysterious email, but Venus came along to fill the gap. They were all on edge and wary of the scene. It was too quiet. Leonardo pointed to the outskirts of the scene. The four broke formation and made a silent perimeter to see if anyone was in the area. They didn't see or hear anything. After their brief recon mission, they all met in the center of the bridge near the bloody message. Raphael walked up to it and looked closely at it.  
"This is stupid, Leo. Any evidence would have been taken by the cops." Michelangelo sensed a fight brewing and backed away to another part of the crime scene. The darkness, the blood, and the chalk outlines made this bridge unbearably creepy. A slight rustle caught his attention. He cautiously headed toward the noise, weapons drawn. He let down his guard when he saw it was only a piece of paper under a rock. He picked it up and headed back to the main group.  
"Hey.look what I found." Leonardo took it and read it over. He cleared his throat and began reading aloud.  
"Congratulations on making it this far. You're smarter than I gave you credit for. However, we now move onto the next part of the game. You've seen what I can do and now I want to see what you can do. Call it a kind of test to see if you're worthy to meet me face-to-face. Oh.and I would leave now if I were you." Raphael looked confused at the last line.  
"Who does this fucker think he is?" A bright light flashed underneath the bridge flooding the area. The turtles were all caught off- guard. A voice boomed at them.  
"Police! Drop your weapons and lay on the ground, face down." Leonardo snarled and the others tensed unsure of what to do. Leonardo threw down a smoke grenade and the area was soon thick with black, billowing smoke. The turtles made it to a nearby sewer grate and rushed into the darkness. After they knew no one was following, they stopped to rest. Michelangelo suddenly looked around.  
"Has anyone seen Venus?"  
  
Venus stumbled through the smoke, unable to see or breathe. A man grabbed her and covered her mouth. "Stay silent or I'll slit your throat and leave you for dead." Venus felt a sharp object prick her neck. She nodded slowly and the object was removed. "We're going to have some fun." The man hit her on the head and darkness surrounded her. Magus smiled at his successful plan. Everything worked perfectly. He picked up the female turtle and carried her to a black van nearby. He threw her in back and chained her down. He climbed in and was soon cruising to his hideout. Venus awoke to complete darkness and it took her a few moments to realize she was blindfolded. She sniffed and her nose was filled with the stench of blood and rotting food. A slight hum filled her ears and she checked her bonds. She was chained to a chair and had a gag stuffed in her mouth. A slight laugh roused her from her surroundings. "Looks like she's awake. I think it may be time to remove the blindfold and gag. Be sure to scream a lot, no one will hear you anyway." The blindfold and gag were removed and Venus looked immediately at her attacker. She gasped at the fox standing there. "You're." "A mutant. Yes, score one for the little turtle. Let's begin and see if she's as smart as my employer gives her credit for." "Employer? You're hired.by who and why?" Magus clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Strike one." He slapped her across the beak, knocking the chair back a bit. "Shall we try again?" Venus spit blood out from her mouth and thought carefully. Who would hire someone to do this? The answer hit her like a Mack truck. "Shredder." "Correct. Now you get to ask one question which I must answer, so go ahead." "Did you kill those people?" "Yes. And I actually enjoyed it. I haven't had that much fun since my spree in LA about 5 years ago. Now.let's see if you can figure out why I've been hired." Venus shuddered as he stepped closer; his breath stunk of fresh meat and blood. "I don't know." Magus shook his head again. "Strike two." He reared back and hit her full in the face; blood began flowing from a cut he opened. "A word of advice.you don't want to get to strike three, it tends to get very messy." He nodded toward a table next to them. Venus gasped as she looked it over. Various surgical items and torture items were laid out, glinting evilly in the light. "Now.let's start this interrogation. Where is your lair and exactly what kind of security do you have in place?" Venus was caught off guard by the question. Her mind quickly calculated what would happen if she lied, but she had to try. Magus suddenly put up a hand. "Wait.before you answer, you should have more information. Watch." He pointed to a computer laptop resting on a nearby table. Venus gasped as Shadow appeared on the screen. She was locked in some sort of solitary confinement cell. The screen shifted to Casey, strapped to a chair much like Venus and beaten to a bloody pulp. The screen shifted once more to an unharmed April. Magus grinned and kneeled in front of Venus. "Tell me what I want to know and they all go home. Lie to me and you get to watch them all die, one by one before I torture you to death. If you try and fuck with me in any way, you all die. Now.how about that lair?" Magus grinned. He seemed to be enjoying this quite a bit. Venus thought quickly, but couldn't come to any ideas. 'Where are you guys?' she pleaded to whoever was listening. "Uh-oh.strike three, Venus. I think you're out." His face darkened and his eyes glinted joyfully as he walked over to the table. He picked up a silver scalpel and walked over to Venus. "I think you'll tell me whatever I want to know when I'm through with you. Either that or you'll be dead. Makes no difference to me, I get paid either way." Venus started squirming as the scalpel came closer to her face, but it was no use. Her screams filled the room as Magus went to work, enjoying every blood curdling moment of it.  
  
The turtles made their way back to the lair, dejected about loosing Venus and having no idea where to even begin a search. As they walked in, an excited Donatello ran in holding a piece of paper. He was stopped short by their looks. "What happened?" "Venus.Venus was taken." Splinter dropped into his chair and Donatello sat down. "What do you mean?" "We were ambushed by the NYPD under the bridge. Leo threw down a smoke bomb and Venus was lost. We have no idea what happened and it's way too dangerous to make it back with all those cops around." Splinter seemed to regain himself and spoke up. "Then we shall wait and see what has happened. Donatello, do you have any further information to help us?" Donatello pushed a piece of paper across the coffee table. "Yes, master. I managed to track down the email. It was sent through an anonymous mailbox so I wasn't able to find any information on that end. However, I ran a search on the IP address of the server that the mailbox was on and I came up with something interesting. The server is part of a network built by the Foot clan to keep track of things." Everyone seemed quite shocked by the news. "So that means that the Foot is behind this?" "It does, Raph. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Shredder himself was behind all this." "So what do we do?" Donatello shook his head. "I don't know, Leo. We have to wait and see if something else pops up."  
  
Magus looked at the unconscious and bloody turtle before him. She was more resilient than most he had met in his day, but in the end, even she cracked. He chuckled as he washed the blood from his fur and paws. "I guess being dissected alive would make anyone talk." Magus checked on a map and soon had the lair pinpointed. "Gotcha. Time for the game to continue." The cell phone attached to his hip began vibrating. He picked it up.  
"Hello, Saki.checking up on me, are we?" A slight chuckle reached Magus' ear.  
"No, I just wanted to tell you how marvelous that session was. I enjoyed it more than that Casey Jones's." Magus smiled.  
"I aim to please, but don't worry. She's not dead yet. I need her for part two of my plan."  
"What about the other three.do you plan on doing anything more to them?" Magus suddenly became quite serious.  
"That's for me to know and you to find out. I do this in my own time and under my own authority. You just watch and enjoy. I'll have another one under the knife before the day is out." Shredder chuckled and hung up the phone. Magus threw the phone against the wall and snarled. "That idiot! Presuming to tell me what I can or cannot do. Hmm.I wonder how well he'd do under my 'interrogations?'" He laughed at the thought and headed out the door. He'd have plenty of time to think about what to do to his employer later, he had turtles to snare.  
  
Magus made his way through the sewers quickly and quietly. He finally arrived at the outer perimeter of the turtle's lair. He took a deep breath and waved a paw past the motion sensor. He watched the red light click on and he melted into the darkness waiting for his prey. Within moments Raphael came bursting around the corner. Magus smiled, this was perfect. Raphael searched the darkness for anything out of the ordinary. He lowered his sai. "Probably a damn rat again." Magus stepped out of the shadows.  
"Try a fox." Raphael spun around in shock as Magus lunged forward with a taser. He connected with Raphael's throat and brought him to his knees. Magus grinned showing all his teeth. "Even easier than taking down that bitch." Raphael's head exploded in rage and he jumped up at Magus pinning him to the wall.  
"What have you done with her!?" Magus was shocked by the sudden display of emotion and power. He wasn't quite prepared for this. He knocked Raphael's hands away and swung around, connecting with his head. Raphael reeled back, keeping a solid grip on his sai. "So that's how you want to play, huh? Fine by me." Raphael sliced forward with a flurry of attacks that would have shocked even Leonardo. He was faster and stronger than he had ever been before. Magus deftly avoided each deadly blow before countering with his own attacks. They stood at a stalemate. Raphael prepared another attack when he heard his brothers running toward him. "I guess my back-up has arrived." Magus heard them too and worry flooded his head. He could take on one, but not all four. He had to get away. He grabbed his taser and hit the water, throwing his legs off to the side. Once all of his body was out of the water he plunged the taser into the water and turned it on. Raphael began convulsing and soon collapsed into the water. The sounds of his brothers were coming too close for comfort.  
"You are very lucky, Raphael. But, I'm going to enjoy breaking you. Until we meet again." He rushed away, but was stopped suddenly. Raphael had managed to grab his back pocket and was pulling him down.  
"I'm going to kill you." Magus twisted, his pants tearing. He was finally free and bolted away. Raphael sat up holding a single piece of paper and cloth. His brothers found him moments later.  
"What the hell happened, Raph?" He grunted as he stood up.  
"I just met our game master." He was met with blank faces. "I'll tell you all when we get back to the lair.  
  
Magus cursed himself for being so careless. He examined his clothes and his body and found little damage. The worst injury was to his pride. Magus Khan Maxwell, famous bounty hunter and serial killer, defeated by a single turtle. It was a disgrace. He growled as he stormed about his hideout. A slight sound from one of the cells caught his attention. Casey was awake. Magus stepped inside and kneeled in front of the conscious man. Casey looked him right in the face and spit.  
"You fucking rat bastard." Magus shook his head.  
"You really shouldn't have." He punched him square in the face, breaking his nose. He hit him again, and again, and again, and again, and again. Soon he was lost in a haze of red as he swung away, all of his frustration being poured out on this single person. Finally he stopped and walked over to the nearby table. He picked up the gun resting there and pulled back the slide. He leveled it at Casey's head and pulled the trigger. Blood and brain matter splattered against the back wall as Casey reeled back. Magus slowly calmed down. He looked at the carnage before him. By his own estimates, Casey was dead before he shot him, his face caved in by his blows. He threw the gun back onto the table and went to go wash up. He'd deal with the turtles tomorrow.  
  
Raphael limped into the lair and lay down on the couch as Michelangelo rushed to get water and bandages to clean the taser burn.  
"What the hell happened out there, Raph?"  
"The killer found me, Leo. He was fucking waiting for me. He knew exactly where the sensors were and how to take me down."  
"That's impossible. How could he know where we are unless." Raphael put together the final clue.  
"Unless Venus told him."  
"She would never do that."  
"Face it, Donny, she's betrayed us." Leonardo couldn't believe it. There had to be something more to it than this. Venus wouldn't just tell him where they lived.  
"No. I won't believe it. I can't believe it. There has to be another explanation." Raphael unclenched his hand and put the paper and cloth on the table.  
"Maybe the explanation is in there somewhere." Donatello picked up the piece of paper and opened it up. It was a bunch of numbers with no other information.  
"What is it, Don?"  
"I don't know. It could be a code, a combination to something, a credit card number.anything. I'll see what I can find out, though." Donatello rushed into his room as Michelangelo came back in with the first aid. Raphael sighed and lay back down. This was going to hurt like hell.  
  
The quiet of the lair was interrupted slightly by Donatello's yelling. He rushed into the living room with a hand full of papers.  
"I found it! I found out who's behind all this." He flung a picture of a man on the coffee table. "Meet Magus Maxwell, bounty hunter and mercenary." Raphael looked at the picture and shook his head.  
"That definitely ain't the guy I fought, unless he forgot to shave today."  
"All I know is that number you found is a Swiss bank account number. It was registered under this man. They tend to be rather tight lipped about their customers, but I know some people online, so it was pretty easy to get his name. Anyway, up until about 5 years ago, he was a pretty successful bounty hunter and mercenary although he tended to be a little extreme in his methods. Torture, psychological and physical were used to get what he wanted." Leonardo covered his mouth.  
"And this dude is after us? Why?"  
"I'm getting there, Leo. It seems that Magus disappeared from the scene about 5 years ago after doing something top secret for the government in LA. It was some sort of biological test. Anyway, he was presumed dead until he resurfaced again last year. The only difference was that he was 100 times more brutal. I've read hundreds of news reports about grisly murders all over the country with similar messages to the one we saw. Now.who do we know that wants us dead at all costs?" Donatello scanned the room and waited for the information to sink in. He turned to Splinter who seemed to understand.  
"Oroku Saki."  
"That's right, master. It would seem that Shredder hired Magus to wipe us out once and for all." Everyone just sat there as the weight of this information hit them all. Raphael was the first to speak.  
"So.what's the next step?" Splinter stood up and assumed an authoritative stance.  
"Find Shredder. Ask him." All four nodded. It was time to get back their friend and sister. 


End file.
